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REPORT OF THE 
SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE 

THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN 

AND WHITE MOUNTAIN 

WATERSHEDS 



COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE, AREA, CONDITION, 
ADVISABILITY OF THEIR PURCHASE FOR 
NATIONAL FORESTS, AND PROBABLE COST 



WASHINGTON 






GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1908 






0. Oh 0, 
i"AR 5 1908 



v-c 






LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



Department of Agriculture, 

Office of the Secretary, 
Washington, December 11, 1907. 
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith, in compliance with 
the provision in the act making appropriations for the United States 
Department of Agriculture for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1908, 
a report on the Southern Appalachian and White Mountain Water- 
sheds. 

Very respectfully, James Wilsox, 

Secretary. 
The President of the Senate. 

3 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Introduction 7 

Importance of Appalachian forests f( >r hardwood supply 9 

Importance of Southern Appalachians and White Mountains for water power. . 13 

Appalachian Mountains important to navigation 16 

Forest determines possibilities of water power and artificial storage 18 

Conditions in the Southern Appalachian Mountains 19 

Erosion 19 

Mining 20 

Agricultural possibilities 21 

Only small area adapted to orchard growing 21 

Cumberland Mountains 22 

Forest 23 

Damage through clearing 23 

Lumbering and fire 24 

Conditions in the White Mountains 25 

Topography : 25 

Agricultural possibilities ' 27 

Forest 27 

Lumbering and fire 28 

Value for recreation 29 

Areas of especial importance 30 

Area and location of lands needing protection 30 

Treatment of the region 32 

Immediate action desirable 35 

Method of acquirement and cost of lands 35 

White Mountains 35 

Southern Appalachian Mountains 36 

Recommendations 37 

National forests would aid local industries 38 



ILLUSTRATIONS, 



Map I. Southern Appalachian Region. 
Map II. White Mountain Region. 



Report of the Secretary of Agriculture 

on the 

Southern Appalachian and White Mountain Water- 
sheds. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The agricultural appropriation bill approved March 4, 1907, re- 
quires the Secretary of Agriculture to investigate the watersheds of 
the Southern Appalachian and White Mountains "and to report to 
Congress the area and natural conditions of said watersheds, the 
price at which the same can be purchased by the Government, and 
the advisability of the Government purchasing and setting apart the 
same as national forest reserves for the purpose of conserving and 
regulating the water supply and flow of said streams in the interest 
of agriculture, water power, and navigation." 

I have endeavored to have completed all investigations necessary 
to give Congress the information desired. 

Each one of the several problems involved has been handled by 
the most competent men whose services could be secured. The 
Forest Service detailed to the work several of its most experienced 
experts. The Bureau of Soils, after careful field study, has sub- 
mitted information on soils and agricultural possibilities of the 
Southern Appalachian region. The Geological Survey of the Interior 
Department lias made available the results of seven years of inves- 
tigation of water power and navigation conditions of Southern 
Appalachian streams. Desirous of securing the most competent 
authority on every phase of the question, I have gone outside of the 
Government service to secure from Prof. L. C. Glenn, of Yanderbilt 
University, of Nashville, Tenn., the results of a three years' study of 
soil erosion in the Southern Appalachians, and from Mr. Philip W. 
Ayres, of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, 
a report on the commercial importance of the White Mountains. 

Approaching their subjects from different points of view, these 
men without a single exception have arrived at results which lead 
irresistibly to these conclusions, namely, that the Southern Appa- 
lachians and White Mountains are of vast commercial importance 
to the industries of the country; that the good or evil influence of 
these regions in an unusual degree depends upon the treatment given 
them, and that both are encountering well-advanced destructive 
influences, which, unchecked, will bring widespread devastation to 
the regions themselves and ruin to many of the industries of this 
country. 

7 



8 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 

Therefore, in this report I desire to repeal and strongly emphasize 
my recommendation of six years ago, that the National Government 
undertake the purchase of a delinite portion of these mountain foresl 
lands, in order that they may, through use as national forests, be pro- 
tected and improved. My former recommendation applied only to 
the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. I am convinced now 
that the Government should extend its purchases to the Southern 
Allegheny and the Cumberland Mountains and to the White Moun- 
tains also. 

A great opportunity presented itself to the Government in the 
purchase of these lands seven or eight years ago. The influences 
which are destroying the mountains were not then so far advanced. 
Virgin hardwood timber lands existed in large areas and could have 
been bought at from SI to $5 per- acre. Within the past eight years 
we have crossed the threshold of a hardwood timber famine, and 
in consequence the prices of such virgin hardwood lands as remain 
have advanced from 300 to 500 per cent. 

It will be the wisest course under present conditions for the Gov- 
ernment to purchase cut-over rather than virgin lands. Even cut- 
over lands with no prospect of a timber crop inside of ten or twenty 
years will cost as much now as virgin lands ready for the saw would 
have cost eight years ago. Barren and eroded lands, of which 
there is a greater area now, will cost no more to-day than in the past. 
But considering the expense of planting timber on them ancl the 
time before returns can be secured they become the most costly 
class of lands that can be purchased. 

That the two regions under consideration are advancing toward a 
condition of barrenness and sterility is the conclusion of every man 
who has had a part in this investigation. I do not refer to the loss 
merely of commercial timber. I mean absolute barrenness and 
sterility — without timber, without undergrowth, without soil. In 
1896 Prof. N. S. Shaler, of Harvard University, said: 

South of Pennsylvania there is, according to my reckoning based on observations 
in every State in that upland country, an aggregate area of not less than 3.000 square 
miles where the soil has been destroyed by the complete removal of the woods and 
the consequent passage of the earthy matter to the lowlands and to the sea. At tin- 
rate at which this process is now going on the loss in arable and foreetable land may 
fairly be reckoned at not less than 100 square miles per annum. In other words, we 
are each year losing to the uses of man, through unnecessary destruction, a productive 
capacity which may be estimated as sufiicient to sustain a population of a thousand 
people. 

This rate has not only been kept up; it has been greatly accelerated. 
Faster than was considered possible eleven years ago these regions, 
through injudicious cutting, fires, clearing, and general misappro- 
priation, are moving toward a forestless, soilless condition. 

If we wait till forest and soil are gone before beginning a sound 
policy of handling these mountains, we shall invite the bitter experi- 
ence of France, who at infinite pains and an expenditure of $40,000,- 
000 is endeavoring to restore both soil and forest to her mountains 
after a course of destruction such as ours at present. 

How the destruction of the Appalachian forests, north and south, 
means far-reaching damage to the country is pointed out in this 
report. The Appalachians must be almost the sole dependence for 
the nation's future hardwood supply. If this supply fails, the 
hardwood-using industries of the country must fail, and the entire 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. tf 

country be in want of hardwood materials which in the past it has 
had in great variety and abundance. The streams of the Appala- 
chians are of enormous value to the nation for water power and 
navigation. If the forests are removed from the mountains, this- 
value will be reduced to a fraction, because the soil from the denuded 
watersheds will so rapidly fill reservoirs and channels that even the 
resources of the Government itself will be insullicient to keep them 
clear. 

That some special means must be taken to protect the resources of 
these mountains no reasonable man after a full study of the situation 
is likely to deny. The time to begin is now. Every year that action 
is deferred the conditions are made worse and the cost of reclamation 
becomes commensurately greater. The undertaking is so immense 
that the National Government can not be expected to assume it alone- 
Important action must be taken by the States directly concerned, and 
extensive cooperation must be had with individual landowners of the 
region. It is the duty of the Government to undertake a part of the 
work and to do it without delay, in order that by example and 
influence it may lead the way to the more rational treatment of these 
regions and their resources. 

In this report it is pointed out how far, in my opinion, it will be 
necessary for the Government to go and what the cost will be. I 
have also indicated the action which it seems necessary for the several 
States to take, and have suggested a basis for securing the coopera- 
tion of individual landowners. All three — Government, State, and 
individual — must, it seems to me, participate in the movement. 

As a result of the work done under the special appropriation r 
several reports are being published which show how the commercial 
importance of these regions depends upon keeping their forests, 
under systematic control. The water resources branch of the Geo- 
logical Survey, under the direction of Mr. M. O. Leighton, has pre- 
pared two reports, one on the Relation of the Southern Appalachian 
Mountains to the Development of Water Power, the other on the 
Relation of the Southern Appalachian Mountains to Inland Water 
Navigation. The report of Mr. Philip W. Ayres, already referred 
to, on the Commercial Importance of the White Mountains, is being 
published. Mr. William L. Hall, of the Forest Service, has pub- 
lished a report on The Waning Hardwood Supply and the Appalachian 
Forests. All of these papers are respectfully brought to the atten- 
tion of Congress as containing in large part the data which form the 
basis of the conclusions and recommendations of this report, 

IMPORTANCE OF APPALACHIAN FORESTS FOR HARDWOOD 

SUPPLY. 

The future hardwood supply hinges on the control of the Appa- 
lachian Mountains. This is shown in Circular 116 of the Forest 
Service, on The Waning Hardwood Supply and the Appalachian For- 
ests. To briefly summarize the reasons, the hardwood lumber cut 
of the country has fallen off over 15 per cent in the last seven years,, 
and this decrease took place at a time when the industries made un- 
precedented demands upon every kind of structural material. The 
output of pig iron increased 86 per cent, that of cement 229 per cent, 
24072—08 2 



10 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 



and that <>!' softwood lumber nearly 16 per cent. During the same 
period t lie w holesale prices of all classes 01 hardwood lumber advanced 

from 25 to 65 per cent . Almost every kind of hardwood has been put 
on the market, and hardwood is now being cut in every State and in 
almost every locality where it is found. All possible substitutes are 
being put into requisition. The demand is stronger than ever, but 

the supply is falling off. A notable shrinkage has occurred in some 
of the most popular woods, as shown by the following table: 

Table 1. — Tin cut qf hardwood lumber, by kinds, 1899 and 1906. 



Wood. 




Oak 

Maple 

Poplar 

Red gran 

Chestnut.,.. 

Basswood . . 

Birch 

Cottonwood 

Beech 

Elm . 

Ash 

Hickory 

Tupelo 

Walnut 

Sycamore. . 

All others. . 

Total. 



Thousand feet. 

4, 138, 027 
633, 166 

1,116,242 
285,417 
206, 688 

308,069 
132,601 
41;'), 124 

456, 731 

260. 120 
96, 636 

38,681 

29,715 

208, 504 



8.634,021 



or 
e(— ). 



Thousand ft et. 
2,820,393 

882, 878 
693,076 
453,678 

407. 379 

376,838 

370, 132 
263,996 

224,795 

214,460 

148,212 
47, SSL' 
48, 174 



Pt . r, Jit. 

- 30.5 

+ 59.0 
+ 97. 1 

+ 22.3 
+ 179.4 

- 36.4 



50.8 



- 20.3 
+ 53.4 



87,637 



- 58.0 



7,315,491 



15.3 



a Not separately Deported. 

Oak, which in 1899 furnished more than half the entire output of 
hardwood lumber, has fallen off 36.5 per cent. Yellow poplar, which 
in 1899 ranked second among the hardwoods of the country, fell off 
37.9. Elm, the great standard in slack cooperage, went down 50.8 
per cent. Cottonwood and ash, used largely in many industries, 
lost, respectively, 36.4 and 20.3 per cent. Of the woods which show 
increases, liickor}? - and walnut are cut scatteringly over a very large 
territory. The increases shown are probably in large part, if not 
entirely, due to more complete figures in 1906 than in 1899. The 
other woods which show increases are those which up to a few years 
ago were considered so inferior that they had no market value. 
Only within the past seven years have maple, red gum, birch, beech 
and tupelo begun to replace the better woods, such as oak, poplar, 
elm, and ash. When the inferior substitutes are gone there will be 
nothing with which to replace them. 

While we know the hardwood supply is rapidly running down, it 
is unfortunate that we can not tell how long the supply will last. 
The hardwood which annually goes into the manufacture of lumber is 
approximately 1\ billion feet. Other uses, such as railroad ties, poles, 
piles, fence posts, fuel, and the vast amount of waste bring the figure 
to at least 25 billion feet. By the largest estimate our supply of stand- 
ing hardwoods does not exceed 400 billion feet. This means a six- 
teen years' supply. 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 11 

How intensely the whole country would feel the loss of a great 
resource like hardwood timber was merely indicated by the injurious 
effects of the anthracite coal strike a few years ago. Many of our 
great industries, such as furniture, vehicle, and cooperage manu- 
facture, depend absolutely upon hardwood. These industries will 
fail with the hardwood supply. Not only will they fail, the whole 
country will suffer for want of their products. Our present national 
forests furnish no hardwood timber because hardwoods grow only in 
the East. 

There have been in the United States four great hardwood centers — 
the Ohio Vallej, the Lake States, the lower Mississippi Valle}^, and 
the Appalachian States. The Ohio Valley in the past has been the 
main center of production. Even as late as 1899, the States of Ohio, 
Illinois, and Indiana produced 25 per cent of the hardwood. In 
1906, they produced only 14 per cent; both the States of Ohio and 
Indiana fell off over 50 per cent. They have reached a sudden end 
as great hardwood producers. Their many hardwood-using estab- 
lishments which are now pressed for supplies will largely exhaust 
their remaining remnants within a few years. The lands from which 
the timber was cut have been cleared and turned into farming, for 
winch in large part they are well adapted. 

The three Lake States furnished less hardwood lumber in 1906 than 
they did in 1899. Unquestionably their maximum production has 
been reached, and their decline is likely to be almost as rapid as that 
of Ohio and Indiana, because of the nearness of many wood-using 
industries winch will make heavy demands upon their supplies. The 
hardwood lands of the Lake States are for the most part agricultural 
lands, and they are rapidly being cleared for the production of grain, 
grasses, and potatoes. 

The same is true of the lower Mississippi Valley. The hardwoods 
occupy the richest agricultural land which, almost as fast as the 
timber is cut, is being turned into farms. Present indications are 
that the swamp land, notable for the production of hardwoods, will 
within a few }'ears be drained and cleared for agriculture. 

This leaves but one other hardwood region — the Appalachian 
Mountains. The Appalachians differ fundamentally from the other 
regions because they are not of agricultural value; their main useful- 
ness is for timber production. In 1906 they produced 48 per cent 
of the hardwoods of the country. It is clear that they must be 
counted upon for even a much larger proportion in the future. 
Although they bear hemlock, pine, and spruce in quantity, it is in 
the production of hardwoods that the Appalachians have their chief 
value. It is to them that the hardwood-using industries must look 
for future supplies, and even with the Appalachians the country has 
only a sixteen years' supply now available for the ax. 

The Southern Appalachian region contains a timbered area of over 
58 million acres. Including the mountains of Pennsylvania, New 
York, and New England, it is safe to estimate the Appalachian area 
as covering 75 million acres primarily adapted to hardwood timber. 
Only a small part of this — 12 to 15 per cent — is covered by virgin 
growth. The remainder has been cut over, and some of it has been 
cleared. 

Throughout the Appalachian region the forest has suffered incal- 
culable damage by fire, which over most of the region still burns 



L2 APPALACHIAN A. VI) WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 

without hindrance. Every year millions of young trees, tlie hope 
of the future crop, are killed and the humus, the great storehouse of 

fertility and moisture, is consumed over thousands of acres. Through 
mismanagement a great part of the young timber has been destroyed. 
Much that remains is damaged by lire, insects, or fungi. Over the 
whole area the average growth is very little, probably not more than 
10 cubic feet per acre annually. 

The inevitable conelusion is that there are lean years close ahead 
in the use of hardwood timber. There is sure to he a gap between 
the supply which exists and the supply which will have to he pro- 
vided. How large that gap will be depends upon how soon and how 
effectively we begin to make provision for the future supply. The 
present indications are that in spite of the best we can do there will 
be a shortage of hardwoods running through at least fifteen years. 
How acute that shortage may become and how serious a cheek it 
will put upon the industries concerned can not now be foretold. That 
it will strike at the very foundation of some of the country's most 
important industries is unquestionable. This much is true beyond 
doubt, that the hardwood timber famine is upon us and we have 
made no provision against it. 

Studies of the forest conditions in the Southern Appalachians show 
that these lands, where they have been under protection for some 
time, are capable of producing an average of 50 cubic feet of wood 
per acre annually. Even taking the production at 40 cubic feet, this 
means for the area of 75 million acres a possible annual production of 
about 3 billion cubic feet, which is about equal to the present con- 
sumption of hardwood timber for all purposes. Since the Appala- 
chians at present supply only 48 per cent of our hardwood, and since 
other regions will continue to furnish some, it is likely that the pro- 
portion from the Appalachians will never exceed 75 per cent. This 
allows a margin of safety of 25 per cent if we assume that there will 
be no increase over the present rate of consumption. If the Appa- 
lachian forests are taken soon enough and rightly handled the}" will 
eventually produce continuously three-fourths of the hardwood sup- 
ply of the country, and do it without exhausting the forests. In fact, 
it can be done in such a way as to improve the forest. 

Our experience will doubtless be the same in this respect as that of 
Germany. In Saxony the cut, which represents only the growth, 
increased 55 per cent during the period from 1820 to 1904, bringing 
the annual yield to 93 cubic feet per acre. Prussia shows a still 
more pronounced increase. In 1830 the cut was only 20 cubic feet 
per acre, and in 1865 had increased to only 24 cubic feet. But in 
1890, owing to proper management, it had risen to 52, and in 1904 to 
65 cubic feet. These results came largely from nonagricultural lands, 
sandy plains, swamps, and rough mountain slopes, and from forests 
which had been mismanaged, much the same as ours. Under right 
management an equal increase may be expected from Appalachian 
forests. To this increase of yield we must look to meet the increase 
which is certain to come in demand. 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 



13 



IMPORTANCE OF SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS AND WHITE 
MOUNTAINS FOR WATER POWER. 

The amount of water power in the Southern Appalachians fre- ' 
quently has been guessed at. The Geological Survey has been 
measuring the streams for seven years, and its report on the Rela- 
tion of the Southern Appalachian Mountains to the Development of 
Water Power presents facts concerning the remarkable asset the 
nation has in the water resources of this region. Based on the low- 
est two weeks of the year an average for seven years shows that the 
streams afford 2.700,000 horsepower. This much power would be 
available the year round. In common practice it is found profit- 
able to develop a water power to the minimum of the four high- 
water months of the year, depending upon steam power during low- 
water season to make up the deficiency. In order to be conserva- 
tive in this estimate the time limit has been made six months. No 
streams or portions of streams were considered that did not flow out 
of the Southern Appalachians. No streams with less than 500 horse- 
power were considered. In all calculations only 90 per cent of the 
observed fall and 80 per cent of the energy of the falling water is 
used. Moreover, three important streams — the Big Sandy, the 
Cumberland, and the Kentucky — are not included. With these 
allowances and omissions the minimum power for the year and for 
the six high-water months is as follows: 



Table 2. — Minimum horsepower of Southern Appalachian streams. 





Horsepower. 


Stream. 


Minimum 
for the year. 


Minimum 

for six 

high-water 

months. 




131,800 
155,000 
131,000 
107,800 
319, 590 
209, COO 
145, 000 
104,580 
58,900 
335, 000 
973, 000 


349, 556 




236, 474 




215, 709 
250, 945 






472, 000 




314,600 




228, 800 
177,880 






235, 715 




853, 420 




1,589,474 






Total 


2, 740, 700 


4,929,573 



The above table shows the power available under present condi- 
tions. Development of the storage facilities of the various streams 
would increase the minimum from three to thirty times, depending 
upon the stream. 

It is estimated by the Geological Survey that at least 50 per cent of 
the indicated minimum horsepower, and probably much more, is 
available for economic development. On this basis the rental of 
1 ,350,000 horsepower at $20 per annum is worth $27,000,000 per year. 
If we take in the same way 50 per cent of the power which is present 
for half the year we increase this sum by $11,000,000, bringing the 
total to $38,000,000. 



14 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATBB8HED8. 

Until a few years ago scarcely any of this power was utilized. 

Since 1900, with an increase in population of about 2,400,000, or something more than 
lo per cent, the South baa increased the value of its farm products bj $728,000,000, 
or 57 per cent, and the value of its manufactures $763 ,000,000, or 52 per cent. Ii baa 
added 3,493,000 spindles to its cotton-mill outfit, an increase of 55 per cent, and its 
mills used in L906 about 2,375,000 bales of American cotton, or 48 per cent more than 
in L900. In the six years the Soiith's annual pig-iron production has tin reased by 
896,000 tons, or ::i percent; its coal production by 34,202,000 tons, or 69 per cent ; the 
value of exports at its ports $177,000,000, or 38 per cent. In that time its railroad 
mileage has increased by 1 1 . 1 1 1 miles, or neatly 22 per cenl . and the assessed \ alue of 
property l>y $2,490,000,000, or nearly 48 per cent. [Manufacturer's Record.] 

This showing is not made by the South alone. It represents the 
results of capital from all parts of the country applied to the devel- 
opment of the resources of the South. It is therefore national, not 
local, development. 

Coincidental with this industrial advance has come about a strong 
demand for electricity generated by water power. Electric devel- 
opment plants have sprung up on nearly all streams, and in great 
numbers on those flowing through the Piedmont Plateau. While 
relatively little of the nearly 5,000,000 horsepower is as yet utilized, 
its utilization is increasing at a marvelous rate. 

Ready power to the value of $38,000,000 will give the country 
tremendous advantage, not alone in manufacturing, but in transpor- 
tation, in lighting, and in every land of development. Water power 
is especially valuable to those sections which have no deposits of coal, 
and its advantages will steadily enhance in the future as the supply 
of coal grows scarcer and the price correspondingly higher. 

On the great watersheds forming the White Mountain region the 
four most important streams of New England have their rise. Upon 
them are located the great cotton, woolen, and paper mills of New 
England. They abound in fine water power, only a part of which is 
now utilized. It has been estimated that the capital invested in the 
manufacturing enterprises which utilize the power of these st reams 
amounts to $250,000,000. Important and flourishing cities have 
grown up in consequence of these industries. Bellows Falls, in Ver- 
mont; Manchester and Berlin, in New Hampshire; Holyoke, Lowell, 
and Lawrence, in Massachusetts; and Biddeford, Brunswick, and 
Lewiston, in Maine, are representatives of such cities, ranging in popu- 
lation from 10,000 to 150,000. 

The Connecticut River, the largest of New England streams, rises 
in the Connecticut Lakes of northern New Hampshire. It forms the 
boundary between Vermont and New Hampshire for 180 miles and 
flows across Massachusetts and Connecticut for 120 miles. Its drain- 
age basin includes 10,024 square miles, of which nearly one-fourth lies 
in New Hampshire and one-tenth in the White Mountains. The 
White Mountains portion of its watershed averages nearly 4,000 feet 
in elevation, including portions of the great Presidential and Fran- 
conia ranges. Their slopes are steep and rocky, without large lakes 
or swamps, and with only the forest to retard the run-oil". Water 
power in the upper stream is developed chiefly at Fifteen Mile Falls 
and Mclndoe Falls on the main river and at Littleton and Lisbon on 
the Ammonoosuc. Below Mclndoe Falls are long reaches of smooth 
water broken at Bellows Falls, Turners Falls, Holyoke, Windsor 
Locks, and three other points by falls having an average aggregate 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 15 

during ten months of the year of 120,000 horsepower. Less than half 
is utilized. 

In very low water the power is reduced nearly one-half, so that 
but a small margin remains over the amount required for daily use. 
At Holyoke, Mass., the margin is frequently so small as to require 
the most careful use of water to make the supply meet the needs. 
The census of 1880 reported for the Connecticut and all of its tribu- 
taries 2,298 mills using 118,026 horsepower developed from the 
streams. It is estimated that these figures have since been increased 
by about 20 per cent, making the present total over 140,000 horse- 
power. 

The Merrimac River is undoubtedly the most notable water-power 
stream for its length in the United States. Between Franklin and 
Newburyport, a distance of 110 miles, it has a fall of 269 feet, of 
which 185 feet is developed, representing approximately 50,000 net 
horsepower. Of the remaining 84 feet, it is believed that less than 
half can be utilized. Probably the total development in the main 
stream will not exceed 60,000 horsepower. Its great water powers 
are at Manchester, N. II., and Lowell and Lawrence, Mass. On the 
tributaries of the Merrimac valuable powers also exist. Those at 
Franklin on the Winnepesaukee are equal in value to some on the 
main stream. The Merrimac is formed by the Pemigewasset and 
Winnepesaukee rivers. The latter has its source in the lake of the 
same name, while the former rises in the Franconia Notch of the White 
Mountains and drains a large area of high, mountainous country. 
Since the Pemigewasset has no lakes or swamps to conserve its 
waters, it depends upon the forest cover alone for its regularity of 
flow. 

The Saco River rises in Crawford Notch, in the heart of the White 
Mountains, and drains a larger proportion of the principal ranges 
than any other stream. None of its tributary streams from the 
mountains have lakes to restrain their waters, though, like the Mer- 
rimac at its lower levels, it is the outlet of important lakes. Toward 
its headwaters the Saco is variable in its flow and has no important 
water powers, but on its lower reaches in Maine its flow is broken at 
six places by falls, affording water power of a high value. At Saco 
and Biddeford, at Union and Salmon Falls, and at Bar Mills fine 
water power exists, a large part of which is utilized. At Hiram, 45 
miles from the sea, is found the most extensive power on the river. 
The Saco, while its possibilities are great, is more dependent upon 
the forest cover for the evenness of its flow than any other river hav- 
ing its source in the White Mountains. 

The Androscoggin River has a drainage basin with a higher gen- 
eral elevation and a larger lake system than any other New England 
stream. It is formed by the union of Magalloway River and the 
outlet of Umbagog Lake, at Errol, N. H. At its headwaters is the 
magnificent system of Rangeley Lakes, the outlet of which is con- 
trolled by dams. The flow of the upper river is therefore very 
uniform. 

Farther down its course the Androscoggin receives the drainage of 
the northern part of the principal ranges of the White Mountains 
through Peabody and Moose rivers. On this part of its drainage 
there are no lakes of importance. The water powers of the Andros- 



16 APPALACHIAN AND WIIITK MOUNTAIN WATKKSllKDS. 

coggin are centered at Berlin, X. II., and Rumford Falls, Livermore 
Falls, Lewiston, and Brunswick, Me. In the 167 miles between tide 
water and [Jmbagog Lake there is a fall of 1,235 Feet, of which (510 
feet is used, corresponding to about 120,000 net horsepower. Of the 
remaining 625 feet, possibly two-thirds can be utilized, correspond- 
ing to 60,000 net horsepower, and bringing the total to about ISO, 000 
horsepower, or approximately three times that of the Merrimac 
without its tributaries. 

The streams of the White Mountains, therefore, furnish power for 
great industries, and are the basis of development for many prosper- 
ous cities in all the New England States but one. These streams are 
all influenced vitally in flow by the forest which covers the slopes of 
the White Mountains. 

APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS IMPORTANT TO NAVIGATION. 

Timber supply and water powder are not the only factors which 
make the Appalachian Mountains commercially important. All the 
water gathered by the Southern Appalachian and White Mountains 
flows to the sea through navigable rivers. With greater elevation 
than other parts of the watersheds the mountains receive much 
more rainfall, and with their cooler climate the evaporation is less; 
hence there is more water to be discharged. Because of the pre- 
cipitous slopes of the mountains the run-off is far more rapid than in 
other sections. To this must be added the fact that in the Southern 
Appalachians there are no natural lakes to gather the flood waters 
and equalize the flow of streams. There are thus two powerful 
influences contributing to an extremely heavy discharge from these 
mountains, and two more contributing to an extremely rapid run-off. 
Combined, these tend to produce great variability in the flow of all 
streams which have a large part of their watersheds in the mountains. 

A large regular discharge coming from springs is desirable, a variable 
surface run-off is bad from every point of view, and so far as possible 
should be remedied. The variability of the present ilow of Southern 
Appalachian streams is so great that though the average volume 
would make the streams constantly navigable, they are at extreme 
Hood during a few weeks of the year and at extreme low water during 
a much longer period. Their low-water stage causes interference 
and loss to business through the cessation of navigation; their high- 
water stage often entails damage and loss from floods. 

There is but one natural factor which tends to equalize the flow of 
Southern Appalachian streams — the forest. In one continuous man- 
tle, covering ridges, slopes, and coves, it has for untold ages been 
nature's sole reliance for the proper distribution of rainfall. If storm 
and deluge came, the downpour fell upon a foot-dee]) laverof humus, 
which readily received many times its own weight of water before it 
allowed any to escape. When filled, it passed on the excess to a soil 
made porous by myriads of penetrating roots and countless tons of 
vegetable, mold. If drought came, it found the humus and soil filled 
as a reservoir with water for the steady supply of springs and streams 
through weeks or months of rainless weather. 

The original forest, then, with its characteristic conditions of shade, 
undergrowth, humus, and soil, was an effectual distributer of moisture. 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 17 

It was as efficient as would have been a system of lakes. It had 
power to hold back the water on a steep mountain side almost as 
though the ground were level. Thus, in a great measure, it equalized 
all influences which contributed to the variability of the run-off. 

This balance of conditions began to be disturbed when the forest 
was cleared from great areas of foothill land. It has become strongly 
disarranged since the clearing has extended far up the mountains and 
since the forest has been opened by cutting and the humus consumed 
by fire over almost the entire area. 

In view of the fact that over large areas of the upper watersheds 
of the Southern Appalachian streams the forest can never be restored, 
the possibilities of artificial storage become important. In the report 
of the Geological Survey on Relation of Southern Appalachian Moun- 
tains to Inland Water Navigation data are presented for each navi- 
gable stream to show the available reservoir sites, the amount of 
water which can be stored, and the effect of such stored water on 
the minimum river stage for specified periods. The data for some 
streams show that remarkable results can be accomplished. As a 
striking example one may consider the Savannah, which during the 
greater part of the year is navigable for steamboats drawing from 4 
to 5 feet of w r ater, but during low-water seasons there are various 
shoals in the upper part of the river with a depth of not over 3 feet. 
In pursuance of the plan of improvement outlined by the Chief of 
Engineers, United States Army, the United States had expended in 
the improvement of this river up to June 30, 1905, the sum of 
$517,643, of which $58,935 was expended above Augusta. The esti- 
mate of cost to complete the project is $645,045. Expenditures on 
the upper portion of the river have now been suspended on the 
ground that the permanent improvement of this portion would 
involve an expenditure out of proportion to the prospective com- 
mercial benefits. 

Considering this condition, it is of interest to note what can be 
done by means of a storage system on this river. Topographic sur- 
veys have located 14 reservoir sites, wdrich, if developed, would have 
a capacity equal to the annual run-off of 1,670 square miles of drain- 
age area, or 23 per cent of the drainage area above Augusta. With 
these reservoirs developed and filled, the amount of water which 
could be stored would be sufficient to maintain an added depth of 9 
feet at Augusta for a period of 118 days, or practically four months. 
Even with the reservoirs half full at the beginning of the low-water 
season there would still be water enough to add 5 feet to the depth of 
the river for 130 days. The Savannah, already a river of great com- 
mercial importance, would have its commerce increased many fold if 
only a good navigable depth could be maintained at all seasons. 

It is not pertinent here to consider whether at a future time it may 
be desirable to plan a general system of such reservoirs. It is impor- 
tant to point out that every reservoir developed for water power in 
the mountains or foothills helps conditions in the navigable courses 
of the streams. Owing to the great water-power development which 
is taking place, this aid is likely to be of considerable value in the 
future. When in addition to seeking improved conditions of naviga- 
tion it is of equal or greater importance to control the floods, as in 
the Monongahela River, such work may become entirely feasible. 

24072—08 3 



L8 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE HOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 

The Weather Bureau carefully investigated the damage along the 
Ohio River from the floods of January and March, I'.miT, and found 
that the property loss, not including dam >ii and river channel, 

amounted to $9,900,000, mosf of which was sustained by the city of 
Pittsburg. The report of the Geological Survey shows that the Bow 
of 1 ,950 square miles, or 35 |><>r cent of the drainage area of 1 he Monon- 
gahela, can be stored lor a, full year, and that by Mich storage the 
low-water stage in the Monongahela can he increased by 6 feet 
throughout the longest dry-season period ever known in the history 
of the river. The measurements show that by the Morale of this 
water in the Monongahela an increase of stage of .'! feet can he effected 
in the Ohio River at Wheeling for a period considerably longer than 
four months. This means a distinct improvement for both naviga- 
tion and flood conditions. With 35 per cent of the Monongahela 
water subject to storage, the flood damage at Pittsburg and Wheeling 
would be almost eliminated. With the minimum stage of the Ohio 
at Wheeling increased by '.> feet, the coveted 9-foot stage between 
Pittsburg and Cincinnati would all but be secured. 

The streams which drain the White Mountain region are all navi- 
gable in their lower courses. The Connecticut River is the most 
important for its commerce. Commerce in considerable volume is 
carried on from the mouth to Hartford, 30 miles, and small boats by 
way of the Windsor Locks may ascend as far as Holyoke, Mass. The 
Androscoggin, Kennebec, and Saco in their upper courses are used to 
a large extent for the driving of logs. The lower Kennebec supports 
an extensive ice traffic. 

FOREST DETERMINES POSSIBILITIES OF WATER POWER AND 
ARTIFICIAL STORAGE. 

The forest bears a vital relation to successful utilization of water 
power and effectual artificial storage. No matter what its purpose 
or design, any reservoir system developed in the Southern Appa- 
lachians is foredoomed to failure unless the watersheds which feed it 
are kept under forest. The present torrential discharge of the 
streams is due to the extent to which the forest has been cut away or 
damaged. The more this sole equalizing factor is lessened, the more 
extreme will be the floods on the one hand and low-water stages on 
the other. A mountain watershed denuded of its forest, with its 
surface hardened and baked by exposure, will discharge its fallen rain 
into the streams so quickly that overwhelming floods will descend in 
wet seasons. In discharging in this torrential way the water carries 
along great portions of the land itself. Deep gullies are washed in 
the fields, and the soil, sand, gravel, and stone are carried down the 
streams to points where the current slackens. The stone and gravel 
are likely to be dropped in the upper channel of the stream, to be 
rolled along by subsequent floods, but the sand and silt tire carried 
down to the still water of the first reservoir, where they are depos- 
ited. It is this silting up that makes uncertain any reservoir system 
outside the limits of a forested watershed. 

Since the extensive removal of the forest on the upper watersheds 
there has been a vast accumulation of silt, sand, and gravel in the 
upper stream courses. Examples of reservoirs completely filled are 
already to be seen on almost every stream. Removal of the silt is 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 19 

usually impracticable. If sluiced out of the highest reservoir, it 
gathers in the next below, and so on through whatever system may 
nave been developed. If, perchance, it should pass the last reservoir, 
the silt is- then free for deposit in the navigable stretches of the stream. 

Regardless of whether there are reservoirs, the ultimate deposit of 
the detritus is in the navigable sections, whence its removal can be 
accomplished only by a steam dredge at the expense of the Govern- 
ment. 

In the degree that the forests are damaged on the high watersheds, 
then, inevitable damage results to water power and navigation 
through increased extremes of high and low water and through vast 
deposits of gravel, sand, and silt in the stream channels and in any 
rersevoir which may have been constructed. 

CONDITIONS IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS. 

The Southern Appalachian Mountains contain approximately 
9,900,000 acres, having an elevation above 2,500 feet. 

The Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains consist of an elevated 
plateau walled in on its western margin by a higher mountain range 
and with numerous short ranges projecting above its general surface. 
In one of these, the Black Mountains, Mount Mitchell rises to 6,711 
feet, the highest altitude east of the Rocky Mountains. The eastern 
edge of the plateau is formed partly by peaks rising above the general 
surface and partly by an abrupt descent that forms an escarpment 
overlooking the Piedmont Plateau. Over 40 peaks, including approx- 
imately 6,400 acres, have an altitude of over 6,000 feet, and 54,000 
acres are above 5,000 feet. The ridges of these mountains are 
rounded, the slopes precipitous, and the valleys deep cut and narrow. 
In Virginia the Blue Ridge narrows to a single range of a few miles 
width, but retains its characteristic topography. It crosses the 
Potomac River at Harpers Ferry, extends through the State of 
Maryland, and merges into the Allegheny Mountains in southern 
Pennsylvania. 

The Allegheny Mountains extend southward from Pennsylvania 
and form the mountainous part of West Virginia and that portion of 
Virginia lying near the West Virginia boundary. The highest peak 
of the Alleghenies is Spruce Knob, in Pendleton County, W. Va., 4,860 
feet. 

The Cumberland Mountains are simply the extension of the 
Alleghenies and are considered to begin at the northeast boundary of 
Kentucky. From this line they extend southwest through Ken- 
tucky, extreme western Virginia, Tennessee, and into northern 
Alabama. The Cumberlands are of less elevation than the Alle- 
ghenies. Their highest peak is Big Black Mountain, in Harlan County, 
Ky., which has a height of 4,100 feet. 

EROSION. 

The greater part of the Southern Appalachian region is underlain 
by rocks that weather into soils which are easily eroded when exposed 
on deforested slopes. Erosion varies in character on account of the 
different kinds of soil. In some places the entire surface rapidly 
wears away, each freshet removing a thin layer, so that the fertile 
soil is soon exhausted. The field is at last worn out and abandoned. 



20 APPALACHIAN AM) WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 

This kind of erosion occurs <>n close-grained, compact clay soils, the 
particles of which cling together firmly and resist the downward 
cutting of small cum nts of water. 

Another I \ pe of erosion r< suits in parallel gullies extending straight 

up and down the slopes. As these gullies grow deeper they widen, 
the smaller ones are obliterated by the larger until they become of 
huge size, their bottoms sharp, their sides steep, and their edges 
irregular and jagged. Such erosion results from clay soils of homo- 
geneous texture and somewhat softer and more loamy than the 1; pe 
mentioned above. It is a very common type, and the process once 
started can be stopped only with great difficulty. It nearly always 
results in the early abandonment of the held on which it begins. 

Of all types of erosion, that of gullying, in which rapid down-cutting 
is accompanied by undercutting and caving, is the most rapid in its 
progress and the most difficult to cheek, as well as the most destructive 
in its effects. This type occurs in soils of relatively soft micaceous 
subsoil. The surface may be a fairly compact clay that offers mod- 
erate resistance to water, but once broken a gully results in the soft 
subsoil. It rapidly deepens, the micaceous material on the sides 
is easily undermined and slips in, leaving vertical or overhanging 
walls. Into such gullies many square yards of soil may cave during 
a single heavy rain, and as the decomposed micaceous material is 
usually scores of feet in thickness such gullies frequently become 
chasms of great depth and width. This kind of erosion when started 
on cleared land may advance into a forested area and undermine 
even the largest trees. The rocks which produce soil subject to this 
kind of erosion are found over a large part of the Southern Appa- 
lachian region, and especially in the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

Still another type of erosion is that started by small landslides, 
which occur on steep slopes when the soil is saturated during periods of 
prolonged rainfall. Such landslides are often started by the tramp- 
ling of cattle over the steep slopes during wet weather. One animal 
in climbing up or clown a slope may start a number of such slides, 
each of which usually grows in width and length and soon make- a 
great bare scar in the field. 

The soils subject to serious erosion are very extensive in the 
Southern Appalachian region. Where on such soils nature has 
placed a forest that brings about a balance between rainfall and 
run-off, the danger in widespread clearing is obvious. The loss 
resulting from erosion means not only the loss of the soil from the 
fields; it means also the loss which has already been described in the 
failure of w r ater power and navigation. 

MINING. 

While in the Blue Ridge and Great Smokies no valuable coal depos- 
its are known to exist, these mountains have a great variety of min- 
eral resources. Many of them have never been developed, while 
others have become the basis of important mining operations. Large 
investments have been made in the mining of copper, marble, mica, 
corundum, talc, asbestos, slate, kaolin, and other minerals, and the 
mineral products are said to amount to several million dollars 
annually. 

Such mining as is carried on does not require large (plant i ties of 
timber, since but a small part of it is underground mining, and some 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 21 

of that which is underground is carried on in the ancient crystalline 
rocks, which do not require timbering. The influence of such mining 
upon the forests is not very important except in a few instances 
whore great damage is done. The most pronounced example of 
injury by mining is at Ducktown, Tenn., where sulphur fumes from 
the roasting and smelting of copper ores have killed all vegetation 
for a number of miles around. The perfectly bare surface has eroded 
with wonderful rapidity. It is a striking illustration of the com- 
pleteness of destruction that may result from erosion in this region 
when the protecting forest cover is once removed. 

In the Alleghenies and Cumberlands the mining of coal overshad- 
ows all other mining operations. This is one of the richest coal fields 
of the United States. The great mines which have been developed 
require annually millions of feet of timber, and will continue to require 
great quantities so long as the coal supply lasts. 

Coal mining does not necessarily conflict with the proper use of the 
forest. It requires the use of usually less than 10 per cent of the 
surface, and this generally in the valleys. All the rest can be kept 
in timber. Moreover, the ownership and control of the surface do not 
necessarily go with the control of the coal rights. In many cases the 
companies which work the mines control only enough of the surface 
to enable them to operate the collieries. 

AGRICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES. 

In the northern part of Virginia the Blue Ridge is composed of 
sandstone which gives rise to the DeKalb stony loam, for the most 
part a poor, thin, stony soil. The summits are rough, rocky, and 
sharp-crested, while the slopes are steep and rocky. Probably 95 
per cent of this type is uncultivated, and is valuable only for the 
timber it supports. The Blue Ridge, with its outlier, Short Mountain, 
is well defined, and soils suited to agriculture come to its base. Im- 
mediately across the Potomac, in western Maryland, similar con- 
ditions prevail. Farther south, in Virginia, the Blue Ridge soils are 
much more productive, and it is only the steep upper portions that 
are unsuited to farming. These higher areas are so steep, rough, 
and rugged that they are adapted only to forestry. 

In western North Carolina, east of the Blue Ridge, lies a succession 
of foothills with moderately precipitous slopes and with small valleys 
between. 

To the eastward lies the great agricultural Piedmont Plateau, 
from which little valleys follow back through the foothill region. and 
into the mountains. At first these valle3 r s are adapted to general 
farming, but as the region becomes more rugged they are pinched 
out and the soil is unsuited to cultivation. 

ONLY SMALL AREA ADAPTED TO ORCHARD GROWING. 

Where the Blue Ridge supersedes the foothills, many orchards 
have been planted on the better soils, and it is these in part which 
have given to western North Carolina the reputation of producing 
good fruit — a reputation justly deserved and capable of being much 
extended. 



22 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIH WATERSHEDS; 

The success of apple orchards on soils and locations as already 
described, however, caused plantings to be made at greater and 
greater elevations, on very steep lands. As a result, orchard.-, in 
such places are much less profitable than twenty years ago, simply 
from the increase in cost 01 labor, and eventually this item will, and 
in fact does already, make it impossible to compete in the production 
i)\ apples with other areas where the decrease in the amount of Labor 

necessary will more than oil'set the additional cost of land v 

economically worked. But even more striking is the problem of 
insect and fundus attacks. It is not economically feasible to plant 
orchards in the eastern United States where the land is so steep that 
ards can not be effectively sprayed at a reasonable expense, 
and the fact that this has been done in some cases in the past argues 
Dothing for its probable success in the future. 

Again, on some of these steep lands orchards have been planted 
at so great an elevation that the yield of fruit has been much lessened, 
the bloom having been destroyed or the trees winter-killed more 
often than at a more moderate elevation. The climate, then, goes 
hand in hand with the steep and rugged features and the character 
of the soils of large areas in this region to render their use for other 
than forest purposes impracticable. 

The Great Smoky Mountains lying to the west and southwest of 
the Blue Ridge are generally rough and valueless for any purpose 
except the growing of timber. Throughout the higher mountains 
cultivation is impracticable because the soils rapidly erode when 
cleared and farmed. The sand and gravel washed from the moun- 
tain fields are carried down in large quantities to the lower courses 
of the streams in the piedmont region and deposited on valuable 
agricultural lands, rendering them valueless. Single floods will 
occasionally leave deposits several feet in thickness. 

CUMBERLAND MOUNTAINS. 

In the Cumberland Mountain region the soils are naturally much 
less productive than on and east of the Blue Ridge. They are more 
similar to the soils of the Great Smoky Mountains, being derived 
principally from sandstone. On the to]) of the escarpment which 
borders the Tennessee Valley on the w r est, the character of the topog- 
raphy is less rugged. The soils spread out more in the form of table- 
lands, which often include areas of level to moderately rolling land. 
The underlying rock, however, is so resistant to weathering that the 
soil has seldom accumulated to much depth, and often it is very 
stony from the fragments of sandstone. As a result, in many places 
these soils are ill suited to agriculture. When of sufficient depth to 
constitute agricultural land, moderate crops can be grown, but the 
soil is not naturally very productive and requires a good deal of fer- 
tilization. Transportation in this region also presents a difficult 
problem. The railroads have followed the little valleys, leaving the 
broad uplands between them, from which they are separated by a 
steep escarpment of 1 ,()()() feet or more, in an isolated location; hence 
the possibilities for practicable and profitable agricultural develop- 
ment in this region are very limited. 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 23 

FOREST. 

The Southern Appalachian forests fall naturally into three types — 
cove, slope, and ridge — each with peculiar characteristics. The soil 
in the coves is usually deep, moist, and fertile. The naturally good 
conditions are supplemented where unaffected by fire by a deep, 
partially decomposed layer of humus, which increases the moisture- 
holding capacity and prevents erosion. Yellow poplar, maple, and 
hemlock are stricth^ limited to the coves. Black walnut and black 
cherry once occupied the cove land also. It is in the coves that the 
Southern Appalachian forest attains the greatest variety and lux- 
uriance. It is here that growth is most rapid and the best quality of 
timber is produced. The situation is also best for lumbering, hence 
it was that the first cuttings of the Appalachian forests were in 
this type. 

The slopes have a better-drained soil than the coves, but one which 
is less fertile. The maple, hemlock, and poplar of the coves give way 
on the lower slopes to oak, chestnut, and hickory, where these species 
have their most perfect development. White oak extends all the 
way from the coves to the summits of the ridges, but on the slopes it 
does best. 

The ridges have a dry, stony soil and an exposed situation which 
distinctly affects the kind and quality of their timber. The more 
valuable trees of this type are chestnut, chestnut oak, black and red 
oaks, and sometimes white oak and white pine. The severe condi- 
tions result in scrubbier timber than is found on the slopes and unfit 
the ridge lands to be handled profitably for the production of saw 
timber. The lumbering of the ridges for the production of telephone 
poles, railroad ties, tanbark, and extract wood is profitable, but on 
account of the slow growth of the timber on the ridges the lumber- 
man generally does not consider it profitable to cut conservatively and 
protect the young growth for a second crop. 

DAMAGE THROUGH CLEARING. 

Originally the forest covered almoit the entire Southern Appa- 
lachian region. Due to clearing for agriculture, the forest is now 
confined to the mountains and to the valkw lands which are stony, cut 
into steep hills, or wanting in fertile soil. All the best valleys are 
cleared. The fields in many places extend far up the mountain sides, 
frequently even to the summits. 

In clearing land, only the undergrowth and small trees as a rule 
are removed. The large trees are killed by girdling and left stand- 
ing. One frequently sees fields worn out and abandoned before the 
girdled trees have fallen. New ground is usually cleared beside the 
abandoned field and the same destructive process repeated. In 
places may be seen three successive clearings — new, still cultivated, 
and abandoned — with the dead trees still standing on all of them. 

Clearing virgin forests for farms is going on steadily from year to 
year to replace worn-out, eroded, and abandoned lands. Always the 
movement is toward the higher lands, those lower down having fin- 
ished their course. 

Many small tracts, reaching thousands of acres in the aggregate, 
unsuited for either tillage or grazing, have been cleared, especially 



24 



APPALACHIAN AND WIIITK MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 



along the Blue Ridge. Most of them are depreciating from erosion. 
While no longer in forest, they are fundamentally forest hums, and 
their earning power can only be reestablished by replacing the fores! 
to which thej arc naturally adapted. While scarcely any of the 
remaining timbered land is as valuable for agriculture as for timber, 
under the present system ;i large portion of it is certain to be cleared. 



I.I'M BEKIXO AX!) FIRE 



The following table shows the area of forest in the mountainous 
part of each State, with the area and percentage of cut-over and 
virgin land : 

Table 3. - Forested area of th Southern Appalachian region. 



Total 

for© ted 

area. 



Alabama 

Georgia 

Kentucky 

Maryland 

North Carolina . 
South Carolina. 

Tennessee 

\ 1 iv,: ■ hi . . 
West Virginia . . 



Total. 



.•1 cree. 

2, T.iO. (MM) 

11,785,000 

716,000 

4,771,000 

831,000 

16,483,000 

7,265,000 

10, 272, COO 



58, 5S3, 000 



i nlumbere 


lightly culled. 


A cres. 


Per ci tit. 


509,000 


11 


432,000 


16 


1. 185,000 


10 


30 000 


4 


1,628,000 


34 


i 12,000 


17 


2, 584, 000 


16 


1,000,000 


14 


2,250,000 


22 


9, 760, 000 


17 



Lumbered and 
second growth. 



A rrcs. 
3,221,000 
2,298,000 
10,560,000 
686,000 
3,183,000 
689,000 
13,899.000 
6, 265, 000 
8,022,000 



P( r i ' at. 
86 
84 
90 
96 
66 
83 
84 
86 



48, 823, 000 



83 



Of the 58,583,000 acres of timberland, 17 per cent is uncut, while 
83 per cent is cut over. The uncut timber as a rule is in the higher, 
more inaccessible parts of the mountains. Occupying the ridges and 
higher slopes, it as unequal in quality and stand to the timber of the 
lower slopes and coves. The cut-over lands are in all stages and 
conditions of reproduction and growth. From some of it has been 
removed only the best species, such as walnut and poplar. From 
most of it the chestnut and oak, which form the main body of the 
forest, have also been cut. 

Over practically all of it, whether cut over or not, fires have burned 
repeatedly and destroyed a large proportion of the young trees, 
which, if allowed to grow, would now represent growth of from one 
to fifty years. In like manner the undergrowth and the humus, both 
vital parts of the forest, have suffered great injury. Following fire, 
insects have at times wrought great local damage. 

Lumbering is going on more extensively in the hardwood forests 
of the Southern Appalachians than ever before. While in the past 
seven years the hardwood cut has decreased in West Virginia, Ken- 
tucky, and Tennessee, the diminution of cutting has been chiefly in 
the more level parts of these States. In the mountains, where heavy 
cutting has not been going on for so long, the cut is probably as 
heavy or heavier than ever. In North Carolina cutting in the 
mountains has been heavy enough to increase the output of the 
entire State. 

There has been little tendency on the part of the lumberman to 
conservative cutting. The usual belief is that, because of the danger 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 25 

from lire and the high taxes on lands with standing timber, it does 
not pay to cut lightly and protect the land for a second crop. Hence 
the lumberman cuts the timber as heavily as possible, gets as much 
money out of it as he can, and then transfers his operations to another 
tract. It is the same principle as the mountain farmer adheres to 
when he abandons a worn-out field for a new one. 

Lumbering is attended with almost as much waste as ever. Actual 
measurements in average operations of hardwood tie making show 
that from 75 to 82 per cent of the whole tree and from 43 to 73 per 
cent of the logs used is wasted. We realize that the waste is enor- 
mous when we consider that probably 20,000,000 ties, each contain- 
ing 2§ cubic feet, are cut in this region every year. Railroad ties are 
only one product. The manufacture of lumber and the making of 
telephone poles and cooperage stock are attended with waste almost 
as great. 

The only industry that uses the forest without much waste is the 
tannin-extract business, which, while using up the mature timber, is 
open to objection in that it takes the chestnut and oak forests almost 
clean, young trees and all. 

Several active influences are thus constantly operating to reduce 
the area and deteriorate the quality of the Southern Appalachian 
forests. Clearing, destructive lumbering, and fire are far the most 
prevalent and damaging, but grazing, mining, and insects con- 
tribute to the injury in a local way. Although the area of the forest 
is much less than formerly, these agencies are at work more actively 
than ever before. Their combined influence, if unchecked, is suffi- 
cient practically to obliterate the commercial forest of the Southern 
Appalachians within the next sixteen years. All that is needed for 
this result is a continuation of present conditions. 

CONDITIONS IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. 
TOPOGRAPHY. 

The White Mountain region is drained by five large rivers — the 
Connecticut, the Pemigewasset, the Saco, the Androscoggin, and 
the Kennebec. The watersheds of these streams form a very rough 
and rugged region broken up into many short mountain ranges sep- 
arated by deep, narrow valleys. The White Mountains proper, the 
most rugged and elevated portion, cover about 812,000 acres. Seventy- 
four peaks reach a height of over 3,000 feet, and of these eleven 
are over 5,000 feet. The tallest, Mount Washington, rises to an 
altitude of 6,290 feet, and is among the tallest peaks east of the Mis- 
sissippi River. 

A characteristic of the topography is the great irregularity of 
arrangement of the mountains. With the exception of the Presi- 
dential Range, there are no long ranges. The greatest number of 
peaks are in irregular groups, or isolated. The three main ranges, 
the Presidential, the Carter-Moriah, and the Franconia, have a gen- 
eral northeast and southwest direction. 

The Presidential Range is the most important. In it are included 
nine of the eleven peaks with elevations above 5,000 feet. It is pop- 
ularly considered as extending only from Mount Madison on the 



26 AI'I'\I.A< HIAN AN!) W1IITK M<>( NTA1N W ATEBSHEDS. 

north to Mount Webster on the south, and includes the following 
peaks: Madison, the three Adamses, Jefferson, Clay, Washington, 

Monroe, Franklin, Pleasant Dome, Clinton, and Webster. This 
stretch of count r\ is about 1 5 miles long by 5 miles in breadth and 
contains about 50,000 acres. 

This range is the source of live rivers, by which it is drained — the 
Saco, the Ammonoosue, and Israel, tributaries of the Connecticut, 
and the Moose and Peabody, tributaries of the Androscoggin. 

The underlying rock is granitic gneiss. By disintegration and 
mixture with organic matter it forms a loamy sand. The depth of 
the soil varies with the elevation, aspect, and gradient. In the 
valleys and on the lower slopes the soil is generally deep, with little 
outcropping rock. With ascent in altitude and increase in gradient 
the depth increases, till on the steep upper slopes there are only 
immense masses of hare outcropping rock and scattered bowlders. 

Next to the Presidential Range, the Carter-Mori ah Range is of the 
most importance. It runs parallel to the Presidential Range and is 
separated from it by the Glen Ellis and Peabody rivers. The highest 
peak is Carter Dome, with an elevation of 4,860 feet, and there are 
eight peaks in all, with elevations of over 4,000 feet. The general 
character of the soil and underlying rock is the same as on the Presi- 
dential Range. The range is about 20 miles long and from 2 to 7 
miles wide. It is entirely surrounded by the five rivers by which it 
is drained — the Peabody and Glen Ellis rivers on the west, the Wild 
and the east branch of the Saco on the east and south, and the 
Androscoggin on the north. The Peabody and Wild rivers flow 
northeast into the Androscoggin, and the Glen Ellis flows into the 
Saco. 

The northern part of the White Mountain region, in Coos County, 
N. H., is flatter than the White Mountains proper, and contains many 
lakes and low mountains wdth wide rolling valleys between. The 
Connecticut Lakes, the headwaters of the Connecticut River, lie in the 
northern part of this region. These lakes are small. The protection 
of the watershed around them is therefore of greater importance than 
if they were large and formed a greater storage area for water. 

The area in Maine includes 700,000 acres in Oxford and Franklin 
counties. This entire region is very rough and rugged, containing no 
regular ranges of mountains, but being broken up into a great number 
of irregular peaks and ridges. The five Rangeley lakes, the head- 
waters of the Androscoggin River, lie in the southern part of this 
region. North of these lakes, in the Magalloway, Cufsuftic, and Ken- 
nebago watersheds, the country is extremely rough, including a great 
number of tall mountain peaks, extending up to the Boundary Moun- 
tains between the United States and Canada. The extreme eastern 
portion of this area lies in the Dead River watershed, the extreme 
headwaters of a tributary of the Kennebec River. The land in this 
watershed is flatter than to the west and contains many small lakes, 
ponds, and bogs. For this reason the protection of the watersheds is 
not of so great importance as in the more mountainous country to the 
west, ami the main watershed of the Kennebec River has not, there- 
fore, been included in the proposed boundary lines. 



APPALACHIAN" AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 27 

AGRICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES. 

The entire region is essentially a forest country. That the land is, 
for the most part, better suited to forest production than to agri- 
cultural use is evidenced by the once cultivated lands which have 
now come up to forests of second-growth spruce and pine. Where 
repeated fires have not kept back the young growth these give good 
promise for the future. Thousands of acres of once cleared land have 
been abandoned throughout the White Mountains, and a smaller 
area of land is now farmed than fifty years ago. Only along the 
intervales and valley bottoms is good farming land found. 

The farm land in the Saco drainage basin, which contains the largest 
area of cultivated land in the White Mountain region proper, lies 
chiefly in the eastern and southern portions. The soil is sandy and 
poor, and except right along the streams the farming is not good. 
The principal crops are clover and timothy hay, oats, rye, wheat, corn 
ami potatoes, peas and beans. There are a few orchards, usually 
overgrown and neglected. 

North of the White Mountains proper practically no land has been 
cleared for agricultural purposes, and in the greater part of this coun- 
try-there are no settlements of any kind save the logging camps and 
an occasional hunter's cabin or summer hotel or camp. 

FOREST. 

Originally the entire northern region, including the White Moun- 
tains proper, was covered with a dense forest of conifers. It was pri- 
marily a spruce country, and the spruce here attained fine dimensions. 
White pine, too, covered large areas and was mixed with spruce 
over much of the region. Balsam occurred in mixture on the upper 
slopes and the lower, moister localities. There was originally very 
little fine hardwood forest except south of the main ranges of the 
White Mountains. 

In the White Mountains proper, red spruce and balsam are the pre- 
vailing species, and reach the highest elevations on the mountains. 
North of the White Mountains these trees with white cedar, and 
around the Connecticut Lakes with white spruce, are the chief 
conifers. Lumbering has brought about a great change in the 
species. Hemlock and white pine, once common at low elevations 
and along the valleys, are now of but little importance in the forest. 
Yellow birch, sugar maple, and beech are the commonest of the hard- 
woods and have greatly increased in numbers on the cut-over land. 
But little of the original forest is now left. Where there was formerly 
a heavy stand of spruce and balsam there is now a hardwood forest 
with a little spruce in mixture. Where fires have occurred there is 
a tangle of wild red cherry, yellow birch, and aspen. 

Hardwoods occur on the lower slopes and deeper, better soils. 
Here yellow birch, sugar maple, and beech are now the characteristic 
trees, with considerable spruce in mixture. The spruce forms a bet- 
ter timber tree on these slopes than in any other situations. These 
hardwood slopes rarely extend above an altitude of 2,400 feet. The 
forest is, as a rule, dense and clean, with a heavy shade. The ground 
cover consists chiefly of witch hobble, mountain maple, and moun- 



28 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 

tain ash. The shad* 1 is too heavy for good softwood reproduction, but 
the reproduction of hardwoods, particularly of sugar maple and beech, 
is often very thick, with a dense matting of young seedlings covering 
the ground. Very little of this type is now left in virgin forest in 
the White Mountain region itself, since it was easily lumbered. 

Spruce and balsam occur at present on the steeper slopes where 
the soil is shallow, and the hardwoods do not thrive so well. Unmer- 
chantable spruce and balsam are found on the extreme upper slopes 
and finally run out into a scrubby growth near the summits. The 
stand is usually dense. Where the forest has been undisturbed the 
ground cover is moss. The balsam reproduction is often very thick 
and the spruce reproduction generally fair. 

Spruce slopes cover the greatest area of any of the forest types 
in this region. Where these slopes are cut over, if fire is kept out, 
the softwoods return in the second growth. Where fire runs over 
the ground after lumbering, however, in many cases the entire soil 
is burned and washed away and the process of return to forest con- 
ditions is very slow. In some cases, as on the Sugar Loaves, in the 
township of Carroll, it will never be complete. 

There is practically no real swamp land in northern New Hamp- 
shire, although in places the spruce fiats approach such a type. There 
are, however, small areas of swamp of spruce bogs, chiefly in the 
northern part of Coos County. These have a very dense, scrubby 
growth of black and red spruce and balsam. In Maine such bogs 
are more common, and a number of swamps are found, particularly 
in the Cufsuftic watershed. 

LUMBERING AND FIRE. 

Six large lumber and pulp companies are now engaged in logging 
operations in this region, besides a large number of smaller concerns. 
But little virgin spruce timber is now left, and at the present rate of 
lumbering it can last but a few years longer. As far as possible these 
companies get their present supplies by purchasing stumpage on 
small holdings in order to preserve the timber on their own lands as 
long as possible, and owing to the fact that stumpage can now be 
bought cheaper than it ever can again. When these small holdings 
are lumbered in this way, they are almost always "skinned" to the 
last merchantable stick. Owners of the smaller tracts themselves 
often cut their woodlands in the same manner in order to get as much 
present revenue as possible. Throughout the mountains the worst 
destruction has been done on the high slopes, and fire has often fol- 
lowed with terrible results. 

(lean cutting is practiced on all the steeper slopes. The spruce 
logs are rolled down the slope to the road below over the merchant- 
able stuff and the hardwoods, which are first felled down the slope 
and thus form a good rolling bed. The hardwoods are left lying on 
the ground unused. The result is a veritable fire trap that lasts for 
years. In 1903, 84,250 acres of land were burned over in the White. 
Mountain region. While this land was for the most part cut over, a 
conservative estimate would place the amount of damage at some- 
thing over $200,000. This was a particularly bad year for fires, but 
the same conditions of drought may occur at any time, and, without 
proper protection, the area burned over may even exceed that burned 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 29 

in 1903. Once a fire starts on cut-over lands, with wind and weather 
favorable to its spread, it is usually impossible to combat it with any 
success. Where the cut has been heavy and the resulting debris cor- 
respondingly large, all the difficulties of fire fighting are proportionately 
increased. All kinds of waste material left in the woods supply food 
for the flames, but the leaving of large, unlopped softwood tops on 
the ground adds enormously to the fury of a brush fire and greatly 
prolongs the length of time that a slash remains a menace to its own 
and surrounding areas. These large tops, propped up from the soil 
by their branches, are very slow to decay and become very dry. A 
large area in the Zealand Valley was burned over in 1903, eleven years 
after the last lumbering. This valley, which had been logged for 
spruce saw logs only, is an example of the great length of time that 
cut-over land must be specially protected against fire even when a 
very large proportion of the stand is left after logging. 

Fires on cut-over land usually kill all standing timber left, as well 
as all the young growth. On the steep slopes, where they are par- 
ticularly likely to spread, owing to the method of clear cutting on 
such slopes, the destruction of the soil is almost certain. On many 
slopes the presence of any forest growth whatever is due to the 
accumulation, through the ages, of a mass of organic matter which 
held the mineral particles of rock as they were gradually disinte- 
grated, preventing their being washed to the bottom of the slope. 
The soil that obtains to-day on such areas is very largely organic 
matter, and when fire-swept, if dry, is so nearly consumed, especially 
by repeated fires, that the remaining mineral particles are easily 
washed away until nothing but bare rocks remain. A thousand 
years will not replace this soil and a growth of trees upon it. 

On such areas the water run-off is much more rapid than on uncut 
or even on cut but unburned areas, as nothing remains to retard or hold 
the rain water on the slopes. There is little left but bare rocks, and 
the water runs off very rapidly, causing floods and freshets in the 
valleys below and extremely low water soon after, owing to the fact 
that little water is retained on the slopes to be given out later as on 
forested land. 

VALUE FOR RECREATION. 

The White Mountains are visited annually by thousands of people 
from every State in the Union, and from foreign countries as well. 
No other section of the country is so accessible to so many of the 
greater eastern cities. In consequence, it forms a great recreation 
ground for thousands of people. The very existence of the region 
as a summer resort depends directly upon the protection of the forest 
from fire and destructive lumbering, which absolutely destroy the 
beauty of the landscape. The virgin forest still remaining in the 
White Mountain region proper is practically confined to two locali- 
ties — one on the northern slope of the Presidential Range, and the 
other that in Waterville. Clear cutting of this virgin growth will 
undoubtedly greatly detract from the value of these localities for 
summer resorts. The natural beauty of the mountains is enhanced 
by their forest covering. Without this they are bare and unattract- 
ive, and when fires occur after logging the landscape is rendered 
bleak and desolate. 



30 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN \V ATKKSHKD8. 

AREAS OF ESPECIAL IMPORTANT!:. 

Owing to tbe high price that would have to be paid for virgin forest 
land, but little of such land can be bought. Certain small areas of 
virgin forest should, however, be preserved, surrounding places of 

particular importance, as recreation grounds. The destruction of 
the forest upon them would almost completely destroy their value. 
These places are frequented by thousands of people* annually, and 
their preservation is of great importance. On invitation, representa- 
tives of the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Massachusetts For- 
estry Association, and the Society for the Protection of New Hamp- 
shire Forests cooperated with the Forest Service in locating live such 
areas. Their combined area will not exceed 5,000 acres. 

One area is located on the north slope of the Presidential Range 
around the ravine of the Cascades and extends from an area that has 
been recently logged over up to the limit of merchantable timber at 
an elevation of 4,000 feet. It includes the slopes on both sides of and 
above the Cascade Falls. These falls are much frequented by camp- 
ers and vacationists, and this would be the only area of virgin tim- 
berland left on the north slope of the Presidential Range. Another 
area is located around the Glen Ellis Falls and extends in a narrow 
strip from here, on both sides of the trail, up through Tuckermans 
ravine on the slopes of Mount Washington to an elevation of 4,000 
feet, the limit of merchantable timber. Another area is situated on 
the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River, where Cedar and Shoal 
Pond brooks come in. This is a popular camping spot for parties 
crossing from the Crawford Notch region through the Pemigewasset 
Valley to North Woodstock, and is very much used for camping. 
Another tract is situated 7 miles west of North Woodstock on the 
Mousilauke Brook. At this point, about 1 mile from its source on 
Mount Mousilauke, the brook disappears underground and flows 
through a series of caverns for a distance of nearly half a mile, being 
here called "Lost River." This underground stream is one of the 
remarkable natural features in the White Mountains. Some twenty 
or more caverns make the whole place one of unusual interest. Still 
another area is Eagle Cliff, which is a combination of six mountains, 
ranging in height from 2,400 to 3,100 feet, all combined in one mass- 
ive group, in the Franconia Notch. The south side of this cliff is very 
steep and overlooks the Profile House, but on the opposite (north) 
side it is more sloping in character, extending down to the wild bed 
of Lafayette Brook, and is covered with a forest growth, mixed spruce 
and hardwoods, of remarkable evenness and beauty. It is the most 
prominent forest on the Franconia Range and one of the most promi- 
nent to be found on any of the mountains. 

AREA AND LOCATION OF LANDS NEEDING PROTECTION. 

In order to determine the extent of the lands primarily available 
for forests in the Southern Appalachian and White Mountain regions, 
a reconnaissance survey has been made, as a result of which the 
accompanying maps have been prepared. Maps I and II show for 
the two regions the lands to be classed as distinctly mountainous 
and noriaencultural. 




S. Doc. 'II 60 / 




WHITE MOUNTAIN REGION 

t^3 NON-AGRICULTURAL LAND 

. 30UNDARY OF THE MAIN 

, WHITE MOUNTAIN REGION 

C_J PROPOSED RECREATION RESERVATIONS 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 



31 



The main centers for such mountainous and nonagrieultural lands 
in the Southern Appalachians are, first, the Blue Ridge and Great 
Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, South Carolina 
and Georgia: second, the Allegheny Mountains of eastern and south- 
ern West Virginia and western Virginia, and, third, the Cumberland 
Mountains of eastern Kentucky, Tennessee, and northern Alabama. 
These lands include the main mountain ranges, and the roughest, 
wildest land of the region. Naturally, they embrace a smaller pro- 
portion of agricultural lands than other parts of the region, and those 
which they do embrace have for the most part been eliminated, as 
will be seen from the irregular boundaries on the map. Regardless 
of these eliminations they still include some small bodies of agricul- 
tural lands. These areas, though they contain only 40 per cent of the 
timbered land of the Southern Appalachians, include almost all of 
the virgin timberlands, because the virgin timber which remains is 
mostly situated on the high mountains. Even though these lands 
do produce an inferior grade of timber, their sole use must be for 
timber production. There is no other crop which will hold the grav- 
elly, stony soil in place and keep it from clogging the channels of 
streams and covering the agricultural valleys which lie below. 
These nonagrieultural and mountainous lands, approximating 23 
million acres, give rise to all the important streams which have their 
source in the Southern Appalachians. They are therefore the vital 
portions of these mountains. Whatever work is done to protect the 
Southern Appalachians must center in these areas. The proportion 
to which these lands fall into different States and watersheds is 
shown in the following tables: 

Tai5i.e 4. — Area, by States, of nonagrieultural gmd nwantaamous lands in the Southern 

Appalachians. 






A art 

Tennessee 4,962,000 

Virgin] i 3.8S2.000 

Alabama 491.000 

Georgia 1 , 806. 000 

Kentucky 1,623,008 

North Carolina 3. 882, 000 



State. 



A <res. 

West Virginia ' 5.797.000 

South Carolina 590. 000 

Ma rvland 277, 000 

Total 23, 310, 000 



Table 5. — Area, bij watersheds, of nonagricultural and mountainous lands in the 
Southern Appalachians. 



Watershed. 


Watershed. 


Area. 




Acr, s. 

59,000 

2,759,000 
582,000 

1,138,000 
431,000 

3,225,008 




A i res. 
428,000 




1 Big Pigeon 


20,000 




502,000 




Broad 

Potomac- 






2 3 0S 




345,000 




1,347,000 


Little Pie-eon 


19. do:) 




1,066,000 TweSro Pole 


1,000 




1,397,000 




800,000 




623,000 
255,000 
202,000 
987,000 


uidotte 

Saluda 

Kentucky 










15G.000 




707.000 




:;7'i nun 






117.000 
151,000 


Total 


23,310.000 













32 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 

While the lands shown tin the map arc all in need of protection. 

they are not all of equal importance when all economic points ol view 
are considered. 

Tin lands to l>< class,,! as of first importanci includt il<< mountain 
ridges mainly, but extend considerable distances down tht s/ojhs in those 
localities where flu soil is particularly subject i<> erosion and <>n the 
watersheds of streams of greatest importanci for water power <>/• naviga- 
tion. The area of such hinds does not <.)■<■<<</ 5,000,000 acres. 

The same class of land for the White Mountain region is shown 
in Map II. It lies in both Now Hampshire and Maine. Excluding 
the numerous bodies of water, their area in Xew Hampshire is 
1,4-57,000 acres, and in Maine 700,000 acres, making a total of 
2,157,000 acres. The proportion in which this falls in the five water 
systems included is as follows: 

Acres. 

Cdnnecticut 429, 000 

Merrimac 2(54.000 

Saco 332, 000 

Androscoggin I. 002, 000 

Kennebec 130. 000 

Total 2, 157. 000 

There is also shown on this map an area embracing only the four 

main ranges of the White Mountains. A few thousand acres of this 

area lie in Maine. All the rest is in New Hampshire. This principal 

White Mountain area covers 668 ,000 acres, and, considering all economic 

points of view, is the most important part of the region. 

TREATMENT OF THE REGION. 

The areas indicated in the preceding section, 23,310,000 acres in 
the Southern Appalachians and 2,1 57.000 acres in the White Moun- 
tains, do not include all the mountainous timberlands of the Appa- 
lachians. As is discussed under the heading "Importance of Appa- 
lachian forests for hardwood supply," there are probably 7"), 000, 000 
acres in this mountain system more important for timber production 
than for any other purpose. This area will have to be given protec- 
tion before the hardwood supply is on a safe footing and before the 
watersheds of the important streams arc adequately safeguarded. 

It is an enormous undertaking to bring this immense area of 
75,000,000 acres under proper conditions of protection and use. If 
the Government owned the land, the problem would be a compara- 
tively simple one under our present forest policy. The Government 
owns almost none of it, and it can not be expected to undertake the 
purchase of such an area which at present prices would amount to 
many millions of dollars. 

The land is owned by individuals or companies whose chief interest 
is immediate profit. Considering past and present conditions one is 
forced to the conclusion that the individual holders are not going to 
manage these lands in a way commensurate with public welfare. On 
account of the difficulty of protecting them from lire, and on account 
of the high tax rates which are common on cut-over timberlands, the 
owners consider that it does not pay them to do so. 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATEKSHEDS. 33 

The several States of the Appalachian region can not protect these 
lands as a whole. They may control certain areas of them, as the 
States of New York and Pennsylvania are doing, but as a rule the 
national or interstate bearings of the problem are such as to make it 
unreasonable to expect that the States will purchase these lands and 
put them under management. A few examples make this clear. No 
State of the group feels it incumbent upon itself to provide the Nation's 
supply of hardwood timber. The State of West Virginia does not feel 
keenly the necessity of protecting the upper watershed of the Monon- 
gahela River because certain cities of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Ken- 
tucky are inundated and suffer damage by the Monongahela floods. 
North Carolina will never purchase and protect the headwaters of the 
Yadkin and Catawba rivers because the navigation and water-power 
interests on these streams in South Carolina suffer from the denuda- 
tion of the mountain forests. In the case of almost every watershed 
there are complications of this kind. 

While none of the three, the Federal Government, the individual 
holders, or the several States, can be expected to try to solve the 
problem as -a whole, the problem is nevertheless so important that it 
must be solved, and all three are in a position to be keenly interested 
in its solution. Therefore it is necessary to consider whether a way 
may be found by which all three may participate in solving it. 

Since the lands are now in the hands of individuals the simplest 
procedure would appear to be by an arrangement whereby the 
greater part of the region could be handled by individuals so that the 
property would not change control. Considering the vast extent of 
the lands, it seems almost inevitable that if they are to be protected 
at all, they must be protected mainly by the individuals who own 
them. Can this be done? It can be done, if at all, only by mak- 
ing it profitable for individuals to hold these lands after cutting 
them over. It may be stated as the rule that timberland owners 
would not want to sell their lands and would put forestry into effect 
upon them if it were not for the difficulty of protecting them from fire 
and the high rate of taxation which prevails in many parts of the 
Appalachian region. But individuals alone can not overcome these 
great obstacles. 

What individuals under present conditions cannot do, however, can 
be made possible by the States. It is possible for the States to pass 
such laws for fire protection as to insure the safety of the most valuable 
timberlands. This is being done by a number of the States with con- 
siderable and increasing success. The problem of equitable taxation 
for forest lands is a more difficult one and it has not as yet been solved. 
Its solution is necessary, however, and necessary in the immediate 
future. 

If the States of the Appalachian region would set themselves to the 
providing of efficient fire laws and the solution of the question of forest 
taxation, they would do a work of incalculable importance in the pro- 
tection of the Appalachian forests. They would make it not only 
possible but profitable to put under protection and conservative man- 
agement practically all of those lands which are suited to the produc- 
tion of the most valuable kinds of timber, and which are accessible for 
economical administration and lumbering. 



34 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 

Inaccessible lands, lands where the rate of timber growth is mod- 
erate or slow, or lands on which the timber when mature is not of the 
hot Quality, can scarcely be affected by this procedure. Something 
additional must he done to protect them. Such lands in the White 
Mountains and the Southern Appalachians lie almost altogether within 
the areas designated in Maps I and IT of this report. For the mosl part, 
they make up the 968,000 acres in the White Mountains and the 
5,000,000 acres in the Southern Appalachians, already mentioned as 
being of first importance for protective purposes. 

In the control of these lands does not the Federal Government 
have a large obligation and a corresponding opportunity? A careful 
study of their character and of their relation to the administration 
of the entire region convinces me that it has, for the following reasons: 

1. The safeguarding of these lands can not be accomplished by 
action of the States in passing fire and tax laws. Some special action 
taken with a view, primarily, of public welfare is necessary. 

2. These lands are of value solely for timber production. They 
lie above the limits of fruit growing and farming. If not in timber 
they must come to a condition of absolute waste, the prey of fire and 
any sort of abuse or mismanagement. Cared for, they will form a 
valuable addition to the future timber supply, which the Govern- 
ment must take action to secure. 

3. These lands form the most important part of the two regions. 
Having the greatest elevation, they receive the largest amount of rain- 
fall: being steepest, they are most subject to erosion. Therefore their 
influence on the streams of the region is far greater, for good or ill, 
than the influence of any other areas of equal extent. 

4. Every acre of these lands is on the watershed of a navigable 
stream on winch for the removal of sand and silt the Government is 
even now 7 spending money in large amounts. The sand and silt which 
are now in the rivers have come from the cleared slopes of gentler 
gradient and lower elevation than those remaining in forest. If the 
forest is destroyed from these higher lands the expense of keeping the 
stream clear will be multiplied many times. 

5. The States can not afford to protect these lands. The timber 
which they can produce is not valuable enough for the State to protect 
them for the timber crop. Almost without exception they lie on the 
watershed of a stream which has its chief commercial importance in 
another State. Therefore no State is willing to put them under con- 
trol for the protective value of their forest. 

G. By taking control of these lands the Federal Government would 
be in a position to exert by example and cooperation a far-reaching 
influence for the safeguarding of the two regions. With relatively 
small bodies of land on each of twelve or fifteen important water- 
sheds, i ; could cooperate with other landowners on each watershed 
in protecting the locality from fire and in the introduction of improved 
methods of forest management. Advices from timberland owners 
in many localities justify the opinion that in this way conservative 
forest management can be effected over millions of acres of private 
lands. In my judgment it is clear that by the ownership of 5,000,000 
acres in the Southern Appalachians and 600,000 acres in the White 
Mountains the Government can lead the way to the right manage- 
ment and use of the entire areas designated on the maps. 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 35 

IMMEDIATE ACTION DESIRABLE. 

If this is a good programme of action, the Government should 
undertake its part of it without delay. Some of the States already 
show a tendency to act in line with it. Maine, New York, Pennsyl- 
vania, and Maryland have already tire laws nearly, if not quite, ade- 
quate for the situation. Alabama, in a special session of its legis- 
lature, has just enacted a similar law. Other States are showing an 
interest which indicates action within the next year or two. The 
Government should not delay. It will clear the situation immensely 
if the Government will say how far it will undertake to go, and imme- 
diately enter upon its work. 

If the Federal Government is willing to purchase land in the 
Southern Appalachians to the extent of 5,000,000 acres, and in the 
White Mountains to the extent of 600,000 acres, it should choose 
these lands in situations where they will have the most influence 
upon the protection and management of the two regions. In the 
Southern Appalachians these lands would not lie in one body. They 
would lie in no less than ten or twelve bodies, and on different water- 
sheds. In the White Mountains the lands would lie for the most 
part in one body, which would include the Presidential, Franconia, 
Sandwich, and Carter-Moriah ranges of mountains. 

METHOD OF ACQUIREMENT AND COST OF LANDS. 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 

The timberlancls of the White Mountains are in the main held by 
a few large companies, nearly all of whom are cutting extensively 
on the spruce stands for pulp or lumber manufacture. The plants 
of some of these companies represent an investment of several hun- 
dred thousand dollars. Manifestly, in negotiating for these lands, 
in so far as they bear uncut timber, the value of the plant must enter 
into the consideration. In addition, the stumpage value of spruce 
ranges from $4.50 to $6 or $7 per thousand. This would give the 
best stands a value of $75 to $125 or more per acre. It is useless for 
the Government to attempt the purchase of virgin stands of spruce 
in these mountains, except on small areas surrounding points of 
especial scenic interest. These in the aggregate will not exceed 5,000 
acres. 

The hardwoods of the White Mountains, of which there is a large 
area, have not the value of spruce, nor are they as yet being exten- 
sively cut. Their stumpage value is from $2.50 to $4 per thousand, 
depending upon location, stand, and quality. 

It is clear that in the main any purchase made by the Government 
in this region must be on the basis of cut-over lands with respect to 
both spruce and hardwoods. As a rule the spruce has been cut clean. 
The hardwoods, where cut at all, are culled so that a considerable 
stand of young timber may remain after cutting. A considerable por- 
tion of the cut-over land has been burned over, some of it so severely 
as to destroy all possibility of a future stand of timber for many years 
to come. 

The cut-over lands have a value ranging from $1 to $6 or $8 per 
acre, depending upon the condition of the timber growth upon them. 



3G APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 

The question of the acquirement of timberlands by the Govern- 
ment lias been considered with the principal owners of the region. 
While unwilling to dispose of their virgin timberlands except at very 
high prices, they arc willing to consider the sale of their cut-over lands, 
the lands lying too high for lumbering, and the mountain tops. 

A careful study of the situation leads to the conclusion that most of 
the lands of these classes can be bought at an average price of SO per 
acre. 

Although it may be necessary to make cut-over lands the basis of 
purchase, so far as possible purchase should be made of uncut lands 
under an arrangement whereby the owner may cut the timber under 
the regulations of the Department of Agriculture. This would leave 
the land in far better condition than the average cut-over land, and the 
Government could well afford to pay a higher price for land under this 
management. 

SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS. 

In the Southern Appalachians the timberlands are owned by large 
companies to a less extent than in the White Mountains, but even 
here as much as 50 per cent of many localities is under such ownership. 
Likewise lumbering is going on less vigorously in the Southern Appa- 
lachians than in the White Mountains. This is accounted for by the 
fact that the Southern Appalachian region is large and many localities 
of it are very inaccessible. Logs can not be driven downstream as in 
the North, and railroads are lacking. Consequently, the price of tim- 
ber all along has been and is now 7 lower than in the North. For 
instance, spruce which in the White Mountains is w r orth on an average 
about $0 per thousand on the stump is in the high southern mountains 
w r orth only $2.50 to $3 per thousand. 

Timberland owmers m the Southern Appalachians are generally 
inclined to sell their lands to the Government at a reasonable price, 
regardless of whether the lands contain virgin timber or are cut over. 
Furthermore, many of them are favorable to the transfer of their lands, 
themselves retaining the right to cut and remove certain kinds of tim- 
ber above specified sizes. 

In considering the practicability of the Government's purchasing 
land for national forests in the Southern Appalachians conference has 
been freely had with timberland owners, lumbermen, real estate deal- 
ers, and title examiners. Moreover, attention has been paid to the 
sales which have been made during the past two years and the prices 
which have been paid. 

The price of virgin hardwood land varies from $5 to $12 per acre, 
depending on accessibility and kind and quality of timber. Cut- 
over lands are worth from $2 to $5 per acre, their A T alue likewise 
depending upon their location and the condition of the timber growth 
upon them. 

In the Southern Appalachians, as in the White Mountains, it will 
be inadvisable for the Government as a rule to attempt the purchase 
of virgin forest lands. It should make cut-over lands the basis of 
purchase, and for such lands it should not exceed an average price 
of $3.50 per acre. 

Neither in the White Mountains nor Southern Appalachians is it 
true that the Government will have to pay higher prices than would 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 37 

have to be paid by individuals in purchasing the same lands. Some 
landowners might attempt to charge the Government more, but, 
on the other hand, there are those who appreciate the advantages 
of the Government's going into this work, and they would rather 
sell to the Government than to any other purchaser. 

To purchase land economically in either region the Government 
should not limit itself closely either as to time or locality. Pur- 
chase should be undertaken in several localities at once, as in this 
way competition can be induced. 

There should be no undue anxiety or haste to acquire land in any 
particular locality. Haste would mean the fixing of too high a 
standard of prices and result in waste of money, and besides would 
certainly involve the Government in difficulty with respect to titles, 
which in both regions present complications. The acquirement of 
the necessary lands in either region can best be accomplished by a 
steady process worked out through several years of purchasing those 
lands which are desirable, which are offered at the most advantageous 
rates, and to which valid title can be secured. 

The right to take lands under condemnation proceedings would 
be helpful, especially, in some instances, to perfect title, but the 
condemnation right must be handled with the greatest care and judg- 
ment and should be used only to clear title and in other cases of 
extreme necessity. 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 

In view of the conditions described on the foregoing pages, it is 
clear that the Government should undertake without delay the 
acquisition of a definitely restricted amount of land in specified 
watersheds in the White Mountains and in the Southern Appalachians 
for the establishment of national forests. 

In the White Mountains it is recommended that the Government 
acquire an area of not to exceed 600,000 acres within the area desig- 
nated on the accompanying map and so situated as to embrace as 
much as possible of the Presidential,. Franconia, Sandwich, and 
Carter-Moriah mountain ranges; that a limit of $6 per acre be fixed 
as the average price to be paid for cut-over lands ; that an appropria- 
tion of $1,250,000 be made immediately available for such purchase: 
furthermore, that $250,000 additional be appropriated for the pur- 
chase of the timber in its present condition, surrounding the five 
important recreation points described on page 30. 

In the Southern Appalachians it is recommended that areas aggre- 
gating not more than 5,000,000 acres be purchased within the limits 
designated on the accompanying map, and distributed, as may seem 
advisable, over the higher watersheds of the following rivers : Potomac, 
James, Roanoke, Yadkin, Catawba, Broad, Saluda, Savannah, Chat- 
tahoochee, Coosa, Tennessee, New, Cumberland, Kentucky, Monon- 
gahela; that the limit of average price be fixed at $3.50 per acre; and 
that an appropriation of $3,500,000 be made immediately available 
to begin the purchases. 

It is recommended also that the Government adopt in both regions 
a policy of cooperation with timberland owners in order to bring 
about the protection of private forests from fire, and the general adop- 
tion of improved methods of cutting. 



38 APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MuTNTAIN W ATEIMI KJ)S. 

NATIONAL lOKi'.STS WOULD All) LOCAL l.MU sikjks. 

If established, national forests should in every way benefit the 

industries of the Southern Appalachian and White Mountain regions. 
Their influence upon the luinher industry would he to make it per- 
manent rather than temporary, because its supply of raw material 
would !>e mad* 1 permanent. As rapidly as tin' timber on the Eol 
became Large enough to he used it would he sold, but the young tim- 
ber would he reserved from sale, protected, an I held lor a future crop. 

The action of the Government in protecting from fire large areas 
of forest would largely solve the lire problem in the two regions. 
Forest tires are the greatest obstacle to private forestry throughout 
the Appalachians, Let this he removed, and private forestry in 
many localities will become not only entirely practicable hut rela- 
tively simple. In this result alone the national forests would he of 
great help to the luinher industry. 

To mining and prospecting the national forests would introduce 
no obstacles, as both operations could go on within the forests unhin- 
dered, just as they do in the Western States. In general, the Gov- 
ernment should purchase the land without the mineral rights, and 
where the mineral rights were obtained regular provision should he 
made for their disposal. On the other hand, by insuring a future 
timber supply the reserves would be of the greatest value to the 
mines, which consume grea^ quantities of wood.. Often the profita- 
bleness of mining is determined solely by the presence or absence 
of a good supply of mining timbers. 

To farming and fruit growing the national forests should give 
material stimulus. The protection of the higher mountain slopes 
would greatly increase the safety of farming and fruit growing in 
the valleys below. No agricultural lands should he included. Should 
it be necessary to purchase small tracts of farming land in order to 
obtain large areas of important mountain land, provision should he 
made for reselling or otherwise utilizing them. The forests need not 
interfere in the slightest degree with the settlers who own and cul- 
tivate small areas of farm land along the mountain streams. Neither 
would they stop the use of the mountains for grazing where there 
is proper food for stock. The high mountain tops or "halds" which 
sometimes would be included, and other good grass lands, could he 
grazed without interfering with the purposes of the forests. 

The many other uses which can he made of the mountains would 
be facilitated rather than hindered. Such uses are for power develop- 
ment, hotel and residence sites, rights of way, and sawmills. The 
forests would not reduce the population of the region; on the con- 
trary, they would increase the population by increasing the demand 
for labor and making more stable and permanent the local industries. 

It has been raised as an objection against the proposed forests that 
they would reduce the funds of the counties affected, by cutting down 
the taxable property. This should not be the case. In the West 
the Government returns to the counties 10 per cent of all revenues 
received from its forests in them. This more than compensates for 
the loss of taxes. The same should be done in the East. 

To the local residents of the Appalachian region the forests should 
be of great benefit. In addition to the protection they would give to 
farming and the permanence they would give to the lumber industry, 



APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 39 

they would materially improve the opportunities for labor. In the 
first place, the management and protection of the reserves would 
be largely in the hands of local men, the best men obtainable being 
selected, just as is now done in the West. As the prevention of fire 
would be very important, a considerable force of men would be 
required in summer; and as there would always be more or less logging 
and construction work going on, there would be winter work as well. 
In the second place, a large amount of planting should be done as 
quickly as arrangements could be made for it. Many thousand acres 
of cut-over and eroded lands ought to be planted up, which will mean 
a large force of men working through several years. 

National forests would mean the development of the Southern 
Appalachian and White Mountain regions beyond any point which 
would be possible without them. More and better roads and trails 
would have to be built, bridges constructed, and telephone lines put 
up. In all of this work the Government should cooperate with the 
local people just as it does in the West. During the present year 
$500,000 will be expended in such improvement work on the western 
national forests, and more will be required in the future. The East 
needs similar help from the Federal Government in the development 
of its mountain forest lands. 

The policy here recommended, if carried out, will with certainty 
have as its ultimate effects the conservation, improvement, and 
increased use of the wood, water, and other resources of the Appa- 
lachian region. The benefits which accrue, while they will be direct 
and distinct for the local region, will be in their largest degree na- 
tional. Every section of the United States will share in them. 



O 



S '09 



